Walking with God

I read these verses earlier today and they really spoke to me.
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. (Genesis 6: 5-9)

Can you imagine what it was like for Noah? Being the only one who walked with God in a world full of evil? Not being able to go and worship Him with others? Having the rest of the world laugh at you because you worship a God that they think doesn't exist? I think most of us have an idea of what it's like. We live in a society where there is no more room for God. Evil is all around us and it's geting harder and harder to stay away from it.

I wish I was more like Noah, righteous and blameless among the people of my time, walking with God. I don't think righteous or blameless are words that apply to me. And walking with God? Well, I'll try, but then I'm distracted by the world and stray from His side again.
But wait a minute! I AM righteous and blameless in God's eyes! My sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus! And I DO walk with God, because even though I keep trying to stray, He never lets me go! He's always by my side!

Here's what really struck me. Did you notice that little phrase in verse 6? "His heart was filled with pain." God's heart. Filled with pain over his people not wanting anything to do with Him. Can you imagine what God feels when He looks down on His people today? The intense pain He must still feel because His people, His beloved children, don't want anything to do with Him! How it must have grieved His heart when He saw His people going in the same direction again.
But thank God for His promise in Genesis 8: 21 and 22: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

Next time I see a rainbow, I will remember these verses. I will think of the pain in His heart, and of His mercy for not wiping out mankind again. I will remember that He will always walk with me and will not let me walk away from Him. And I will remember to share the news about my Amazing God, my Wonderful Savior, with anyone who wants to hear!